892 



HORTICULTURE 



March 25, 1911 



taque, a large pure white, with a slight stain in the 

 throat. E. Y. Teas & Son, Centerville, Ind., sent me a 

 splendid white variety — Alice Carey, that I would de- 

 scribe as very similar to Frau Senger Bettaque. An- 

 other variety from this firm that I like very much is 

 Big Medicine ; rose flaked yellow, very large and fine. 



C. L. Goodrich, the Luther, Iowa, specialist, is pro- 

 ducing some remarkable Childsi seedlings. The colors 

 are clear and bright and the blendings exquisitely deli- 

 cate. No. 183 is a large flower, measuring 5 to 6 inches 

 across; a beautiful blending of lilac and lavender, with 

 penciling on the edge of some of the petals. No. 1248 

 is a very large flower of a tint similar to America, with 

 a larger flower, although not quite so well arranged 

 spike. No. 1258 — white ground penciled crimson ; dark 

 red blotch in throat ; flower about 5 inches in diameter. 

 i I tested all of the novelties of John Lewis Childs, 

 I'lowerfield, N. Y., and a fine quartette they were. Es- 

 pecially good were Pink Pearl, a very beautiful pearly 

 pink, as the name suggests, and Kosy Spray, a large 

 white sort beautifully stained with rose. From their 

 general list were Melrose — a large white flower, flaked 

 pink with a bright crimson center; 1. S. Hendrickson 

 — a beautiful mottling of white and bright pink, and 

 Wild Eose — delicate pink, or rose shade; very fine. 



P. 0. Coblentz, New Madison, Ohio, is doing good 

 work as a breeder and his seedlings show great vigor 

 with petals of good substance. He is producing some 

 fine stuff. His No. 400 is a splendid light creamy 

 yellow with a bright red blotch and extra large flower. 

 No. 53 is a beautiful ruffled pink; No. 42, a deep bright 

 pink almost solid color. Nancy Ray is a fine white sort 

 with a red throat marking. 



In a collection from E. E. Stewart, Eives Junction, 

 Mich., there was a most beautiful variety — No. 103. 

 It was a delicate pink variety with ruffled petals. Gol- 

 den Queen, the variety that won the prize at Rochester 

 for the best yellow, did well with me. It is a clear light 



yellow with a red blotch, good straight spikes that do 

 not get soft or wilt in water and the flowers open out 

 to the last bud. 



Margaret, offered by Vaughan's Seed Store, is one of 

 the best reds of recent introduction. It is bright car- 

 mine, with a large pure white throat. Mastodon — a 

 novelty offered for the first time this year, is a seedling 

 of Princeps and a very striking and valuable variety. 

 Another seedling of Princeps is a variety named Prin- 

 cepene raised by the W. E. Korchoff Co., Pembroke, 

 N. Y. This is one of the most brilliant scarlets I have 

 seen. It is very vigorous, flowers well ojjen and are 

 large and of fine substance. The throat is glistening 

 white and it is a very attractive variety. They tell me 

 that they have shipped the cut spikes to Porto Rico, 

 where they arrived in good condition, so it must be a 

 good shipper. 



Montague Chamberlain, who is soon to establish as a 

 commercial grower, has recently bought out a large col- 

 lection of Mr. Kunderd's hybrids. I am well acquaint- 

 ed with a large number of the varieties in this collec- 

 tion, and they are a splendid lot of gladioli. Improved 

 1900 one of the best is, as the name implies, a real ad- 

 vance on the old 1900 and is a robust and healthy 

 variety — a quality that was lacking in the old sort. 

 Mr. Chamberlain has purchased a farm in Groton, 

 Mass., where he will grow his bulbs. The farm is nicely 

 located and the soil well adapted for growing gladiolus 

 bulbs. Mr. Chamberlain is a well-known ornithologist 

 and is the autlior of several volumes on this subject; 

 a man of strictest integrity and fine business ability. 



Orange, Mass. 



Grevillea robusta as a House Plant 



I have always admired this plant as seen in a green- 

 house and had heard it said that it was most suitable for 

 house use, but until recently I did not realize its possi- 

 bilities for this purpose. Last fall I took two plants 

 into my house and gave them rather rough treatment 

 but in spite of this they flourished and are still doing 

 creditable duty in my windows. From this little exper- 

 iment I have been wondering why it is not more gener- 

 ally grown for the retail trade. As specimen plants three 

 feet high it would be irresistible to purchasers. There 

 are many ways that it could be used. A few small plants 

 in a large pot with a still larger plant for the centre ; 

 very small plants in shallow pans for the window, or 

 table, combined with other plants, flowering or foliage ; 

 with every use it would surely show its worth. It cer- 

 tainly has not been pushed to the full limit. It can be 

 propagated and grown without great trouble and at 

 small cost. 



Dorchester, Mass. 



Grevillea robusta 



After a Winter in ttie House. 



